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Heiko Alkema
Heiko Alkema is a dissenting sergeant in the German Wehrmacht. He currently serves under Hauptmann Jonas Merhoff and is the leader of Second Platoon in the 21st Panzer Division. Alkema also has the dubious distinction of being one of the most frequently captured characters on IO and has rarely come out of battle without serious injuries. Early History Heiko Alkema was born on the 1st of December 1914 to Siemen and Nine Alkema, an old Frisian family in Bremen. Siemen, a captain in the Reichsheer, was shipped off to the western front before Heiko was born. During the war he was raised by his mother, aunt, and grandmother, and Heiko rarely met any close male relatives as most of them had devoted themselves to service. Heiko would never have a chance to grow close to his father. On November 11, 1918, 20 minutes before the armistice went into effect, a zealous French artilleryman and his fellow gun crews opened fire on Siemen Alkema's position. A scrap of shrapnel caught Siemen in the throat as he was inspecting the war-weary troops under his command. He bled out in seconds. When Heiko was old enough to understand, this event seeded a deep hatred for the French and anyone who supported them. Heiko's mother never remarried and he remained an only child. His only companions were his cat Frisi, and the company of tin soldier that his father had sent to him before he had died. Early in his childhood Heiko became almost fanatical in his determination to join the army and avenge his father's needless death. Two people shaped Heiko's path and mind, both military men. The first and most important influence was Heiko's grandfather Uwe and the second Heiko's uncle, Izo. Uwe was a forward thinking man and saw that the dream of a German Empire was a foolish proposition. Izo, however, became obsessed with trying to restore Germany to its former glory. Izo joined the Freikorps in the early twenties and in 1927 he joined the Sturmabteilung or SA. Heiko studied the merits of both sides as closely as he could. Because of his higher class upbringing, Heiko never made many friends insulating him as most of Germany fell to the sliver tongue of Hitler and fascism. None of the adults around him, with the exception of Izo, were swayed either though they had enough sense to keep their misgivings to themselves. When Hitler rose to power in 1933, Uwe lost any tact he may have once had and was stabbed in a opera house after his criticism of Hitler was heard in the wrong circles of power. A year later, Izo was killed when Hitler and SS turned on and killed much of the SA hierarchy. Both death shattered Heiko's world. In less than a year both of Heiko's heroes lay dead at the feet of Hitler and his Nazis. It became abundantly clear that they were a threat to Germany. When the drums of war began to beat in 1935, Heiko joined the Wehrmacht. His rationale was that their must be sane representatives of true Germany to fight for her protection to check the ever growing power of the warmongering SS. He quickly found that he was not alone, that much of the Wehtmacht command felt as he did. Heiko had finally found a Germany to be proud of and for which he would eagerly lay down his life. Ideological Influences The people who shaped Heiko's view of the world. *''Uwe Alkema, Heiko's grandfather, had been a sergeant in the Franco-Prussian war and rose to Colonel afterwards into the Great War. Uwe managed to snag a station in the Reichswehr after the the Reichsheer was disbanded. Uwe believed that preservation of the German state was paramount, enough German blood had been spilt trying to establish an empire. Uwe would ultimately die for his views when he his criticism of Hitler was over heard in the wrong the circles. *Izo Alkema, Heiko's uncle, hadn't preformed as well as his brother Siemen in the Great War and was a slowly rising sergeant during the war and was discharged with the dissolution of the Reichsheer afterwards. Izo fanatism and fanaticism led him to join the SA in 1927. Izo felt the disgrace dumped upon Germany must be avenged, that any enemies of the Fatherland must be destroyed without mercy. Ironically, Izo would also die at the hands of the Nazis after Hitler and the SS turned on and killed much of the SA hierarchy in 1934. Mental Stability Since the deaths of his entire platoon in Africa, Heiko's sanity has been spirally away. He now sees his dead platoon-mates regularly and has taken to drinking until he passes out to remedy the problem. He also often hears voices, particularly laughter, that seem to mock him. Though the hallucinations are very obvious to him, he has managed to hide his ailment from those around him. Military Service Heiko has fought in Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the Soviet Union, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. ''Legion Condor (Spanish Civil War) (Then Gefreiter) Alkema had his first combat experience in Spain in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. He opposed the German intervention seeing it as a waste of German lives on an irrelevant war, but nonetheless volunteered and fought with distinction as a driver and later gunner/commander of a Pzkpfw. I. Most notably, Heiko participated in the first tank battle of the war near the town of Torrejon de Velasco. The feeling of helplessness that gutted him as he watched the machine-gun rounds from his own tank bounce harmlessly off of the more heavily armored and better armed Soviet T-26's would haunt him the rest of his days as a tanker. Pre-war and Fall Weiß (Invasion of Poland) Transfer to 10th Panzer; promotion to Unteroffizier; Panzer III gunner - refit into Stug III ''Fall Gelb'' (Battle of France) 10th Panzer; Stug III gunner ''Unternehmen Barbarossa'' (Invasion of the Soviet Union) 10th Panzer; Stug III commander - knocked out Africa Heiko Alkema began his tour in the North Africa theater as platoon leader in the first company of the 21st Panzer Division under the command of Hauptmann Jonas Merhoff. As such, he participated in two notable engagements with American forces, one in Algeria and another in Morocco. The first skirmish was a decisive German victory in which Heiko led his squad to the eventual destruction and routing of the enemy. The engagement in Morocco, however, did not end in his favour. Though he managed to wipe out all but 3 of the enemy it came at the cost of his entire platoon and his own capture. Personal Relationships :Kasper Loewe (NPC): * Heiko has fought with Kasper since Operation Barbarossa in 1941. They met when Kasper was assigned to Heiko's platoon as a replacement, and forged extremely strong bonds after being the only two survivors of an ambush by Soviet forces. Kasper was Heiko's first true friend. Kasper's death, along with the deaths of the rest of his platoon, kicked off a slow decline in Heiko's sanity. :Jonas Merhoff: * Heiko has kept up an amiable relationship with his commanding officer but the latter's close ties to the Nazi party has capped their relations off at "colleague". IO History List of battles and statistics Battles *Raid on Rocherath Battery :: Led a squad on a special mission up a cliff to capture an artillery battery. ::* Loss; Captured by Nicholas Ealing *Dancing in the Desert :: Heiko's squad stumbles over an old French outpost occupied by American troops after becoming separated from the rest of his platoon. ::* Victory *Torch +1 :: Heiko and his platoon defend a outpost one day after the initial landings of Operation Torch. ::* Loss; Captured by Daniel Brennan *Taking Sicily, One Step at a Time :: On patrol, Heiko and a small band engage Americans on the front line. ::* Victory Statistics *Victories: 2 *Loses: 2 *Kills: 12 (0 personal kills) *KIA: 9 Category:Characters of Issuing Orders